Broken Rules
by Lady Lanera
Summary: When a series of events start to fray nerves at Major Crimes, Sharon quickly learns there are times one needs to break rules in order to keep people she loves safe.
1. Showering of Gifts

**Disclaimer:** _Major Crimes _and all its characters belong to TNT and James Duff.

**A/N:** My first _Major Crimes _fic and you can blame DaughterOfAres for all of this. This fic will be updated but slowly as my main focus will be on my active _Harry Potter _fics. Please understand this. It will be a multi-chapter, complex fic that I hope you will enjoy. Thank you.

**Showering of Gifts**

Stifling a quick yawn, Captain Raydor walked towards the nearest coffee pot in the break room. It had been another late night full of grisly crimes and mayhem unfortunately. But then again, no one really should have expected otherwise in Los Angeles.

As the rest of her team walked in to start another day, Sharon gave each of them a curt smile before she returned to the warm cup of coffee in her hands. The extra jolt of caffeine was really going to help her get through the day. Well, at least until she was finished for the day and could curl up with a nice glass of white wine again.

"So, I'm talking with Nicole last night, right?" started recounting Lieutenant Flynn loudly as he walked beside Lieutenant Provenza.

Sharon quickly hid her amused smile behind her coffee cup. Provenza looked absolutely bored to tears already, and Andy had just started with his story. She could, however, understand Provenza's disinterest, though. His partner did have a habit of going on and on unfortunately.

"When she suddenly starts in on me about not being civil enough with her stepfather. I mean, come on. Really? I came to her wedding and shared walking down the aisle with him—when it should've been me alone walking her down the aisle. I'm her father after all. What more does she want from me?"

Taking a step towards Flynn, Sharon opened her mouth. However, she stopped instantly when she noticed Detective Sykes enter the murder room with a large bouquet of expensive flowers in hand.

Detective Sanchez instantly whistled appreciatively.

"Whoa, Sykes! You better tell Cooper to save some of that money for the wedding," Julio teased, causing the younger woman to glare at him.

"They're not mine." Her eyes quickly glanced at Sharon before they fell to the floor a moment later. "They're the Captain's."

Sharon frowned slightly but took the bouquet from Amy silently.

"A gift from Jack, Captain?" Provenza quietly asked.

"I should hope not," Sharon replied without thinking. In fact, after she had signed the divorce papers weeks back, she had come to the conclusion that she would likely never see nor hear from Jack again. There wasn't really any reason for him to stick around anymore after all. Her frown deepened as she pondered this mystery for a moment. Jack had never before sent her flowers, least of all obscenely expensive ones. So, just what did he hope to accomplish with this latest stunt of his?

Her eyes then darted to Andy as a startling thought occurred to her. She had thought she had made it entirely clear to Andy that she just wanted to be friends with him. Nothing more. Being friends didn't break any rules after all. However, the moment she saw his look of pain, she knew the flowers weren't from Andy either. She felt relieved at that realization. So, who had sent her the flowers?

"Was there a card, Sykes?" Provenza asked, looking around for one in the massive bouquet.

"Not that I saw," Amy replied with a shrug.

Unable to stand her team's suspicious looks anymore, Sharon finally sighed inwardly. "Thank you, Amy." She then turned and headed towards her office. A part of her wanted to toss the bouquet into the garbage as soon as she was out of their eyesight, having not known who had sent it. However, the part that won convinced her it would really be a shame if she did throw it away since it was such a beautiful bouquet of expensive flowers. For all she knew, in fact, they could have been sent from Brenda. Though, it was highly unlikely.

Tossing her old, fraying lilies into the trash, Sharon quickly replaced them with the expensive bunch of flowers. Once she had everything placed in just the perfect position, she nodded slightly before she sat down at her desk. Her attention quickly went to the small pile of paperwork someone had left for her. Such was the life of the head of Major Crimes, she decided, grabbing a pen and filling out the dry forms outlining her teams' past cases.

She had just finished the first form when she heard the knock on her door.

"Captain? We've got a case out in West Hollywood." She quickly stood up, grabbing her gun and badge from her desk drawer before she followed Provenza out of her office. Experience had taught her that the lieutenant would be quick to fill her in as the team headed over to the crime scene.

* * *

With lights and sirens blaring, they came up over the steep hill and instantly found themselves under a fury of gunfire. Sharon and Provenza ducked the second they saw the drawn weapons and bullets ricocheting off the hood of the car. Patrol unfortunately hadn't informed them of this development. Hell, they hadn't mentioned a thing about weapons being involved!

The two waited until the gunfire paused before both experienced officers got out of the bullet-ridden car with their guns drawn, hiding behind their opened doors. At the sound of squealing tires, Sharon glanced to her left, watching the Major Crimes van come to a screeching halt before her team exited with their vests on and their guns drawn.

"L.A.P.D! Throw down your weapons!" Sharon yelled from behind the door she used as a shield, knowing full well that whoever was shooting at cops likely didn't give a damn about anything, much less police procedures she had to follow.

"What division?!" someone shouted back, the gunfire ceasing again.

Sharon caught the confused look from Provenza before she raised her voice and yelled back, "Major Crimes." When she heard a gun clatter to the pavement a moment later, her eyes narrowed.

"I'm yours, Captain," the suspect called out soon after.

She glanced at her team, nodding at the ones she could see to move in and saying a prayer as she watched them stand up with their guns drawn. When she heard no responding shots fired and her team swarmed the suspect, she quickly stood up and approached. Her eyes narrowed even more on the young man in his early twenties lying face down on the pavement with his hands on the back of his head.

As Sanchez slapped his handcuffs onto the suspected gunman and read him his rights, Sharon felt herself start to relax. She looked each of her team members over from afar, grateful to see that all of them were all right. She then glanced around them, noticing that there were no other patrol cars. In fact, other than her team, there was only the suspect.

When she finally came face to face with the suspect, she caught his satisfied grin but he said nothing to her as Sanchez and Flynn led him to the back of the squad car she assumed Tao had been driving to the scene.

"Strange," Provenza muttered, picking up the black semi-automatic rifle the young man had discarded. The lieutenant shook his head then and held it out to her.

Sharon walked over to him rather curious. Her eyes widened the second she saw her name carved into the rifle's magazine. She turned back instantly towards the suspect before she shook her head. Just what was going on?

* * *

An hour later, Sharon stood behind the mirrored glass with her arms crossed as she looked into the interrogation room. First the flowers, then this? This day was turning into one of the strangest days she had ever had while on the force. When she heard the door open a moment later, she glanced towards Tao and flashed a brief smile at him.

"If this case wasn't strange enough already, Captain, I ran the suspect's weapon and found that the rifle is a subject of a closed FID investigation. Now, naturally, I—"

"Do you happen to know the case number?" she asked, her curiosity taking over again.

"I do." He opened the folder in his hand and resituated his glasses. "Case Number 265405323."

Sharon blinked before she forced a polite smile to her face. "Thank you, Lieutenant. That'll be all." She brushed off his surprise, grabbing the folder from him before returning her attention back to the suspect in the interrogation room. It was high past time to figure out what was going on. As she walked in, she gave the young man a thin smile before sitting down. "Hello, I'm Captain Raydor."

The suspect looked across the table at Sharon and smiled back, as if someone had just told an amusing joke. He slowly leaned in then, his blue eyes sparkling even more. The air around him just reeked of evilness.

"Yes...?" Sharon said, drawing out every syllable of the word.

Saying each word with deliberate emphasis, the suspect calmly replied, "I am the first and serve as a messenger in this great reckoning." His smile widened even more. "They are coming, Captain. They are coming."


	2. Shot Across the Bow

**A/N:** According to my beta, DaughterOfAres, I seem to be determined to leave everything on a cliffhanger lately. Let me assure you, dear readers, that's only the case for this fic. :D Don't worry, though. I'll wrap every little question up by the end. As always, enjoy.

**A/N2:**Thanks to the person who reviewed/commented about my goof with Taylor's rank. I admit he's not my favorite so I don't really pay attention to his rank in the slightest. lol. Errors fixed now... hopefully.

**Shot Across the Bow**

Sitting at her mahogany dining room table in her condo, Sharon stared at the manila folder on the tabletop. Ever since she had taken it from Tao, she had found herself lost in her thoughts. Were the flowers from earlier related to this folder somehow? She inhaled slowly, tracing her finger against its edge as she stared at the folder. Could it be possible that someone knew? She shook her head, though. That was impossible. No one knew. Not even Jack.

"Sharon?"

She forced the smile to her lips, something she had been doing a lot lately, and glanced up at the young man she had taken into her home long ago.

"Yes?" she replied, noting Rusty's worried look instantly.

"Is everything all right?" He glanced around the condo before his eyes fell once more on her. Some thought must have then come to him, because he quickly held up a hand. "Wait. This doesn't have something to do with my mom, does it? Like, she's not fighting you for custody or anything, right? With this whole adoption thing, I mean?"

"No, Rusty." She shook her head softly. "It has nothing to do with any of that. I promise."

"Oh." He then sighed and frowned. "Well, do you want to talk about it, maybe? Dr. Joe says that talking helps the mind work life's mysteries out," he said, shrugging in the familiar teenage way.

She laughed quietly. "Unfortunately, this is one of life's mysteries that is going to have to wait, I'm afraid." She glanced at the clock then, noticing that it was ten minutes to six. If they were going to eat before she went in, they'd have to hurry. "How about some oatmeal and bacon today, hmm?" She caught his immediate grimace and rolled her eyes. "A little healthy food never killed anyone."

"Says you."

She pointed her finger at him, but was cut off by the phone suddenly ringing. She sighed inwardly and got up to answer it. So much for breakfast, she thought.

* * *

A little while later Sharon walked into the Murder Room and caught Andy's quick jerk of his head towards her office. She raised a brow but followed his motion. When her eyes fell on Assistant Chief Taylor standing in her office admiring one of her photos, she suppressed her urge to groan. The man just had some odd fascination with touching her stuff, not to mention her.

With her head held high, she walked into her office, waving Rusty off as she closed the door behind her.

"Chief Taylor, what a pleasant surprise," she said in her best respectful tone. At least the best one she could muster up before she had her morning cup of coffee. "What can I do for you today?"

Taylor gave her his famous smug smile. "Well, Captain, it's more of a matter what I can do for you today."

She did not like the sound of that. Not one bit. "Oh?"

"As you're aware, we currently have in custody a young suspect who opened fire on your squad yesterday. Now, I know that you've interviewed him, or attempted to at the very least. However, it came up empty." He shrugged carelessly. "I'm here to take him off your hands. After all, the matter seems to be very close to your heart, it would seem."

She blinked. "I'm sorry, but I don't follow. How is this matter close to my heart?"

"Well, he did shoot at you and your team yesterday," he reminded.

Tilting her head to the side, she stared back at him. "Lots of suspects shoot at my team and me. I'd hardly be effective if I let every incident like that affect me. Unless there is more to this?" When she caught his uncomfortable head tilt followed by his wince, she realized that she was right. There was more to this then what he was saying. "Forgive me, but are you taking my squad off the case?" Her arms crossed as she just barely held back her glare.

"Now, Captain, don't be like that."

She felt her blood begin to boil.

"It's only one case. I'm sure the boys over at-" He was, however, cut off when the door to her office suddenly swung open, nearly hitting Taylor in the process much to Sharon's disappointment. If he had been just a few more inches that way, he'd have gotten hit hard.

"Excuse me for interrupting, Chief, Captain," Buzz said after dashing into her office.

"It's fine, Buzz," Sharon politely replied, glad for the respite.

"You asked me to come get you when the press conference started."

It had taken everything in her not to ask what the hell Buzz was talking about. Instead, she just smiled widely and nodded, deciding to follow his lead.

"Of course. Thank you." She then turned to Chief Taylor. "Would you like to join us?" She could see Taylor's confusion but he quickly followed after her and Buzz a moment later. When she joined the rest of her team in front of the TV soon after, she quickly noticed that behind the new Defense Attorney who was leading the conference was none other than Brenda. However, a moment later, Sharon leaned in closer with a puzzled look.

"Something wrong, Captain?" Provenza asked, sharing a look with Flynn.

She then turned around and glanced at her team. "Where's Amy?"

"I'm afraid that's my doing," Taylor announced. "I asked Detective Sykes to spend some time down at city hall today."

"Why?" Sharon replied, drawing the three-letter word out.

"I felt like it was a better use of her skills today," he replied with a listless shrug.

Sharon's eyes flashed dangerously. Everything Taylor did today had undermined her authority in some way or another. Did he just have a death wish today or was he just that stupid, she wondered. However, just as she had taken a step towards him, she heard a loud bang behind her. She whirled around, glancing up at the TV again. Smoke had filled the screen followed by a series of distinct gunshots. Someone had opened fire at the press conference.

Her team scrambled as fast as they could towards the doors with Taylor bringing up the rear. Crime was usually insane in Los Angeles, but it was never this bad.

After rushing across the street towards City Hall, they found officers had already established a blockade and locked the building down. Each member of her team flashed their badge to the officer guarding the scene before they entered the building and headed towards the conference room.

The moment they entered the room, it was as if someone had hit each of them hard in the gut. Everywhere they looked, they saw the injured and the dead. The officers that had already been there on scene yelled out various things as they did their sweep of the room and check for injured, but it was too chaotic for Sharon to understand, unfortunately. However, judging by the fact that the officers had lowered their weapons already, she assumed the threat was over.

"Captain, over here!" Flynn called out over the low, eerie moans of the wounded. He waved her over to right side of the stage, a place where she recalled Brenda was standing not too long ago. He pointed down towards a piece of smoldering debris. "Looks like they used something similar to a Molotov first before they attacked."

She turned around and glanced around the room. How was it possible that no other officer who was there noticed such a device? She then caught movement to her left.

"Lieutenant?" Sharon said, addressing Provenza as he slowly approached.

"It's nothing good, I'm afraid, Captain."

Her heart sank.

"The gunman was one of us."

"What?!" Flynn yelled, quieting down when Sharon lightly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I just spoke with Chief Johnson before she was transported. She confirmed what the other witnesses claimed." Provenza turned and motioned towards an upper balcony. "He was stationed up there for the conference. Judging by the unconscious officer SID found over there," Provenza's hand moved slightly to the opposite side, "he came over to this wing and subdued his partner. He then tossed something down here near the stage and opened fire."

Sharon closed her eyes.

"How many, Lieutenant?"

"So far, six dead, not including the gunman, and fifteen wounded. But it's likely to rise."

She nodded numbly, glancing across the way to see Taylor, Sanchez, Tao, and many others helping victims.

"Captain?" Provenza said rather hushed so only she'd hear. "Chief Johnson and Sykes are on their way to UCLA Medical."

"How bad?" she asked, glancing at him.

"Sykes has a nasty head wound, and the Chief was shot in the side and arm."

Sharon nodded again, unable to speak. She closed her eyes once more and just breathed. How could this happen?

"Uh, Captain?" Sanchez quietly interrupted.

Her eyes reopened before she glanced at him and noticed the semi-bloodied press official.

"This here is Roxanne Barnett with _The Tribune_. She was covering the conference when the attack occurred. I think you need to hear this."

Sharon gave the woman a small smile. "Yes, Miss Barnett?"

"This is going to sound odd, but that officer..." Her voice trailed off for a minute before she sniffled back her tears. "It's just earlier when I met him, I-" She stopped yet again and glanced down. "I was here doing a story on the LAPD. I ran across him earlier in the lobby and asked him a few questions. It didn't seem odd to me at the time, but, well, he handed me an envelope and told me that I should open it up after the press conference. That it would provide a little insight to a story I've been covering." She wiped away the tears that streaked her cheeks. "It's stupid, I know, but I thought it was just a tip he was giving me about, I don't know, issues in the LAPD. Like harassment of minority officers or something." She held out the envelope slowly. "I opened it and was going to start reading when... when he started shooting."

Sharon gave her a soft smile and grabbed the envelope from her. "Thank you, Roxanne." She watched Sanchez carefully guide the traumatized young woman away and towards the EMTs. She glanced down at the envelope and exhaled before she slowly pulled the thin slip of paper out.

_Repent your sins, Captain Raydor, before it's too late._

**A/N: **Just a quick reminder. This story will not always take priority and be updated quickly, but I will finish it and work on it as much as I can. So, please be patient with me. Thank you.


	3. Friendly Talks

**A/N: **Enjoy

As Lieutenant Provenza drove them to the hospital, Sharon silently stared out the window, her mind a million miles away. It was odd to think, but right then she found herself missing Jack. The man may have driven her up the wall many times, but there was a time when he could always make her feel better. That time was long past of course, but she still glanced down at her phone for half a moment, contemplating calling him just to hear his voice. However, the rational side of her pushed that insane idea out the window soon after. It'd only make things worse for her later.

"Want me to swing by the condo and pick Rusty up, Captain?"

She shook her head, though. Rusty was better off there working on his schoolwork than being there with her and seeing more death and destruction. Not to mention, as horrible as it was to admit, she didn't want him near her right then.

They rode the rest of the short drive in silence.

As the squad car came to a stop in front of the large hospital, Sharon felt her insides clench. Would this be another place where her team would come under attack? Would more die because of her? She closed her eyes. Beside her, she could hear Provenza getting out of the car. She, however, made no motion to doing the same. Not yet. _Please keep them safe,_ she thought silently.

"Captain?" Provenza's worry was badly masked.

"I'm fine, Lieutenant. Let's just get inside." Sharon quickly got out of the car and headed into UCLA medical not long after. She kept her eyes focused straight ahead, feeling Provenza right beside her the entire way to the nurses' station.

A young woman in colorful scrubs glanced up the moment they reached the desk. She smiled at both of them, as Sharon flashed her badge. "Hello. How can I help you, officers?"

"Amy Sykes's room, please." The nurse nodded instantly before she keyed in the name into her computer. It wasn't long before the nurse glanced back up.

"I'm sorry. Miss Sykes seems to have discharged herself. She may be in the waiting area with the other officers."

Sharon nodded slowly. "And Brenda Leigh Johnson?" She watched the nurse type that in before the nurse looked back up with a smile.

"She's down that hallway. Room 125."

With a curt nod of dismissal to Provenza, Sharon watched the Lieutenant walk off towards the waiting room. This was something she would have to do herself. She continued down the long corridor, passing by the numerous private rooms on either side of her. So, Amy had discharged herself not long after arriving. None of that surprised Sharon in the slightest. Amy was always so quick to push herself in Sharon's opinion. She assumed it was something the young woman had picked up in the military.

As Sharon quietly approached the far door, she couldn't help but reminisce. So much had changed in so little time. She could still recall that first day like it was yesterday. Oh, how she and Brenda didn't get along whatsoever. In fact, Sharon would freely admit that there were times when she found Brenda to be so damn irritating. Of course she knew that Brenda thought the same about her as well. Yet there they were now with what Sharon would freely admit was a wonderful friendship.

Knocking sharply against the thick glass, Sharon slowly opened the door to Brenda's private hospital room a moment later. She quickly forced a smile to her face when she noticed Fritz being his usual perfect husband self. For a brief moment, she wondered if Brenda Leigh knew how lucky she was to have him. However, she quickly brushed that thought aside.

"Sorry to interrupt," Sharon apologized, not moving away from the door.

"You're not interruptin' a think. Come in. Come in," Brenda Leigh said tiredly, waving her hand towards her other side. "Fritzy here was just fillin' me in."

"Oh?" Sharon's eyes darted towards the former FBI agent at once. Just what exactly was he informing his wife about?

"Well, Brenda asked . . ." Fritz started to say, his voice quickly trailing off.

Sharon caught Brenda's immediate eye roll.

"I was just askin' how you were doin'. That's it."

Sharon blinked, her smile thinning slightly. Just what had Fritz learned during his interrogation of the young man from West Hollywood? After all, she had later learned that Taylor had given that case over to SOB. As if her team couldn't handle it. "Um, well, fine. I wasn't the one shot, after all." Brenda laughed quietly and nodded.

"I know that. I meant with the divorce. That was a long time to be married to someone."

She inhaled sharply, trying not to let either of them see her surprise. Brenda was shot twice, yet somehow she decided now was a good time to discuss Sharon's divorce? She'd never understand that woman. Sharon shrugged, smiling a bit more.

"That may be, but Jack and I, well, we were just delaying the inevitable."

"I suppose, but—"

"Rusty says 'Hello,' by the way," Sharon interrupted, desperately wishing to speak about anything other than her failed marriage. There were too many open wounds associated with that can of worms currently. She caught Brenda's eyes narrow on her for a half a moment before the younger woman finally nodded, seemingly allowing the matter to drop.

"Is he still givin' you trouble about this whole Stroh matter?"

"No. However, his mother, on the other hand . . ."

"You found her?" Brenda then glanced at Fritz. "You never told me that!"

"Because I thought Sharon had," Fritz shot back.

Brenda scoffed. "Men." She turned back soon after. "Well, is the woman as horrible as we thought she'd be?"

"Worse," Sharon answered honestly. "However, we've . . . come to an understanding, I think." Understanding was an understatement. She had practically strong armed the woman into doing the right thing, just as she had done with Rusty's father. How either of those two could have called themselves parents was beyond her. If she were a different woman, the other Sharon would have been sporting some lovely marks for the way she had mistreated her son. As it was, though, she took comfort in having seen the look of rage on the other Sharon's face as she had calmly walked away from her, just as Sharon Beck had done to her son all those years ago.

"Oh?"

Sharon only half-smiled, though. "So, I take it the doctors told you that you're supposed to rest and take it easy, then?" She noticed the quick look between Fritz and Brenda at once. She didn't care if they did find it odd that she was changing subjects rapidly. She didn't want to discuss certain things that would only lead to trouble.

"Somethin' like that," Brenda replied with a frown. "You sure everythin's all right, Sharon?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

Brenda's eyes darted back to her husband before she looked back at Sharon.

Fritz clearly caught the hint, standing soon after. "I think I saw a candy bar out there earlier. How about I go get that, hmm?" He didn't leave any room for either of them to argue. He just quickly walked out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

"All right. Now, talk," Brenda demanded as soon as Fritz had left. "What's goin' on with you?"

"Nothing," Sharon replied with an internal wince. That was _hardly_ a suspicious reply, after all.

"Yeah, sure, it ain't," she drawled, clearly not buying it. "There's somethin' goin' on with you. So, you either tell me right now, or I get it out of Lieutenants Provenza and Flynn."

Sharon frowned deeply. What part of her not wanting to talk about it didn't the woman understand? Then again, this was Brenda Leigh Johnson she was talking about. It shouldn't have surprised her in the slightest that her friend was going to try to force her to reveal what was bothering her so greatly.

"Have it your way, Captain," Brenda said with a shrug, moving to get up out of her bed.

Glancing up at the ceiling, Sharon sighed heavily, biting back her instinctive snide remark. "Sit back down, please."

"Are you gonna tell me what's wrong?" she asked, pausing for half a moment.

"For the hundredth time, nothing is wrong."

"Then, no I'm not going to sit back," Brenda replied, scooting herself closer to the edge.

Latching onto the first thought that crossed her mind and seemed semi-safe to her, Sharon snapped, "You were shot. Twice! Perhaps that's a bit unsettling to me."

"You hardly shed any tears the last time I was attacked, and I was hurt way worse that time than this one," Brenda replied matter-of-factly.

Sharon glared, unable to think of anything to dispute Brenda's claim. She hadn't even bothered to see Brenda after Stroh had attacked her. She had sent flowers, but she had been too busy doing damage control to go see her in the hospital.

"If you're gonna lie, Sharon, at least make it convincin'."

"Do you recall the gunman who shot you earlier?" Sharon asked, brushing off Brenda's words. She caught Brenda's loud sigh of exasperation a moment later.

"Uh-uh, Captain," Brenda said, waving her finger at her. "That's not your case. It's SOB's, not Major Crimes. I don't have to answer that."

Sharon's eyes narrowed, which made Brenda smile her sickeningly sweet smile.

At times like this, Sharon remembered just how crazy Brenda Leigh could make her. Purposefully enunciating each word and forcing the sentence to come out as slowly as possible, Sharon asked, "Do you recall the gunman who shot you earlier?"

Brenda's eyes narrowed just slightly, but the smile never left her face. "How could I? What with the smoke and everythin', I was surprised I could see myself." She then shrugged, scooting back into her hospital bed. "It came from up above just like I told the Lieutenant. I didn't see it until it was too late."

Sharon nodded slowly. "Do you know why one of my detectives was there with you today? Had there been threats against the conference?"

"None that I know of." She then frowned before adding, "I know the mayor wanted the Chief to put more officers on the streets to settle the public's fears of acts of terrorism in highly public areas. But as far as I know, there weren't any plans put into place."

"Why the increase then?"

"If I had to put money on it, I'd say it was like all those dog and pony shows they do. To show the press that somethin' is being done. Even though, no one's even touched the issue."

Sharon could believe that. Most of the suits in city hall were all about sculpting the public image of the police department in a certain way.

"What was the conference today about?" she asked in the most conversational tone she could. There was no way Brenda was answering all these questions suddenly without something planned. Hopefully, making it sound as though she didn't _have_ to answer would waylay whatever plan Brenda had concocted in her mind.

Brenda shrugged. "The new DA was just gonna to make a neutral statement concernin' the demonstration about officer-involved shootin's that's been happenin' later. It was nothin' real new or anythin'. Just the same old 'LAPD officers are trained extensively on when to use deadly force and when not' line."

Unfortunately, that line had been used a lot lately, Sharon knew. It seemed in every paper now there was yet another story on an officer-involved shooting somewhere in the country. Depending on how the media portrayed it, the public was either for the officer or not—which tended to make investigations harder than needed to be in her opinion.

"I'm sure Fritzy and the rest of SOB can handle it without the team's help this time."

And there it was. The shoe dropping. "He told you already, didn't he?" Sharon shook her head, not waiting for an answer.

"All he told me was that you're somehow connected in all this mess, so Taylor passed the case off to SOB. That's it. He didn't tell me how you're connected, though."

Sharon glanced out the nearby window, shaking her head. A part of her was glad that Brenda knew, just so Sharon wouldn't have to tell her why she felt so bad for Brenda being shot twice. However, a bigger part was annoyed with Fritz for revealing such information.

"To tell you the truth, I don't even know how I'm connected at this point," Sharon admitted a few moments later. "I've never seen either suspect before, and the evidence just doesn't make sense."

"How so?"

Biting back a sigh, she glanced at Brenda. "Yesterday, we received a call from West Hollywood stating shots had been fired with multiple victims. Only when we arrived, we were fired upon with no evidence of a shootout beforehand. According to Tao, Dispatch couldn't even find record of a call coming in from West Hollywood around that time. Not until _after _we arrived did that call come in."

"Strange."

Sharon nodded. "So, before Taylor pulled us from the case, I had Flynn and Provenza try to track down who spoke with Provenza. Only they couldn't find the person. Or physical record of anything, as it seems that the hard drive that contained the security feed for the entire building mysteriously crashed and wiped itself clean before they could get there."

"You interviewed the suspect, though, right? Before he pulled you?"

"Yes. The only things he said, though, were that he served as a messenger and was the first in this great reckoning, and that they, whoever they are, were coming."

"Anything else?"

"Well, we have today, don't we? The message this time was for me to repent my sins before it's too late." Sharon shook her head before covering her face and rubbing her forehead.

"Repent your sins?"

"I haven't got the faintest idea what sins it's referring to."

Brenda flashed a soft smile. "Well, we know there ain't too many you could've done, don't we?" She then laughed quietly. "Certainly not adultery, though, you'd have the right if you had of course."

"No," Sharon replied, not joining in the joke. "Jack and I may have been separated, but I never stopped hoping that one day he'd straighten his act and come home." Truthfully, there was a part of her, small part now, that still hoped that. There had been awhile there when she thought he had, since he had taken such an interest in Rusty and stuck around longer than he had before. But Jack, like always, showed his true colors eventually. A thought suddenly crossed her mind, and she almost shot a glare at the woman in the hospital bed. She'd walked right into the trap. Brenda had lured her into believing there wasn't price when it came to answering her questions by leading her down the path slowly. She'd tied it in so _perfectly_ with the personal questions Brenda really wanted answers too. But Sharon couldn't even be too upset about it. Truth be told, it felt good to talk about it. Saying what she knew out loud to another person solidified her decisions.

"Maybe it's connected to an old case of yours?"

Sharon shrugged. Brenda must have picked up on the fact that she'd caught on to her plan if she were going back to talking about the case. "Possibly." The old FID case that Tao had mentioned yesterday after tying the rifle to it had after all been connected with her. Not that Sharon was going to admit that, though. After all, that case had no bearing on this one. It couldn't, seeing as how Sharon was the only one connected to that case who was still around.

"Have you spoken with your kids lately? Told them about the danger you're in?"

Back to the personal questions. Obviously, Brenda was doing her best to tie them together in hopes she'd get more answers. She considered ending Brenda's little game. "No. Ricky's busy at some company event in Aspen. Emily's practicing for her big recital, and Rusty is—well, he has enough on his plate to deal with."

"And Jack?"

The sigh escaped her lips before she could even stop herself. Jack . . . "If I know him like I think I do, he's likely already back in Las Vegas, enjoying life to the fullest." And getting himself into so much more trouble than he could handle. Just once she wished he'd wake up and be the man she had fallen in love with. But that time had passed long ago. All he saw now were the cards in his hand.

"You should let them know, Sharon. Just in case these people decide to go after your family. We've seen what happens when people aren't careful enough."

"They've already gone after my family," she stated, but felt her chest constrict at the thought nonetheless. She noticed Brenda's knowing look at once.

"They do become your family after a while, don't they? All of them, even Lieutenant Flynn."

Sharon smiled faintly. "He's actually grown quite a lot from the first time I met him. Though, I'd imagine that was more your influence than mine."

"I don't know about that. I've heard from Fritzy that you two are quite close together. Havin' dinner together every now and then the way I hear it."

Those rumors were starting to get rather annoying in Sharon's opinion. It seemed like every week she was having to fight against them. "We're just friends, Brenda. That's all."

"So was I and Fritz at first."

Sharon groaned inwardly, but kept a neutral expression trained on the woman in the hospital bed who was already injured and shouldn't be injured further, no matter how much Sharon wished to wiped that smile off her face. Why was she friends with her again? And why was everyone trying to make something out of her friendship with Andy? Couldn't a man and woman just be friends these days? She then shook her head. She was just as friendly with Andy as she was with Provenza, yet no one was suggesting anything between them.

"All right. All right. I'll stop. But you have to admit. It is rather odd that now all of a sudden you decide to divorce Jack when you hadn't before."

Sharon's eyes quickly glanced out the window again, avoiding Brenda's eyes. It was strange, she'd give Brenda that. But Jack had finally done the impossible and hit that final straw stage. She sighed quietly in defeat. Once again, Brenda Leigh Johnson would get her confession. She wondered about her own sanity at times like this. She'd seen almost immediately what Brenda was trying to do. Brenda had answered all of her questions about a case that Sharon wasn't even supposed to be investigating, and now it was Sharon's turn to answer. She turned back, knowing that getting the truth off her chest would help release that figurative elephant on her chest.

"He crossed a line," Sharon said rather hushed. The moment she heard her words, she knew what Brenda would ask next.

"What line?" Concern was etched into every part of Brenda's face as she stared back at Sharon.

Closing her eyes, she turned away again. How did one explain what had happened? She knew Brenda wouldn't accept the 'It's complicated' line.

"Sharon?" Brenda said softly, placing a hand on her arm. "What line?"

"He tried to use my children against me."

Brenda's mouth opened instantly. However, before she could say a word, there was a knock at the door and Provenza walked in quietly grumbling about Sykes being stubborn.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" Sharon said, glancing at him.

Provenza glanced at Brenda for half a moment, though. "Chief, great seeing you. Feel better soon." He then turned his full attention onto Sharon. "Captain, we need to get going."

Frowning slightly, Sharon gave Provenza a confused look before she quickly masked it. Something had happened. However, as she got to her feet, she found that she couldn't ignore her curiosity. "What's going on, Lieutenant?"

"Taylor wants you back at the station. Seems SID found another of those messages."

Sharon nodded sharply. What Rusty commonly referred to as her 'ninja' skills quickly took over. She swiftly stalked towards the door, her head held up high. Everything about her just screamed 'Get out of my way or I will shoot you.' As the adrenaline continued to surge through her, she briefly wondered what the message would say this time.

"Be careful, Captain," Brenda called after her.


End file.
